Blaming Clinton for 9/11 - Again

There's quite a storm brewing over an upcoming ABC docudrama (drama being the operative part) titled The Path to 9/11. One congressperson, Louise Slaughter (D-NY) - who doesn't shy away from controversies - has posted a statement on her site calling for ABC to 'come clean' about the film's historical innacuracies, dramatic license and the motives of the writer, conservative Cyrus Nowrasteh.

A FILM OF QUESTIONABLE INTEGRITY

* Director of The Path to 9/11, billed as "an objective telling of the events of 9/11," admits that film is "not a documentary": The director of the film, David Cunningham, posted on the show's official blog that his work was "not a documentary..." For unexplained reasons ABC has already taken down its blog promoting the show. [Think Progress, 9/2/06]

* the path to 9/11 makes numerous questionable claims - such as that the clinton administration passed on a surefire chance to kill or capture bin laden - that have already drawn criticism: Reviews of the film have shown it to contain questionable claims. According the reviewers of the film, who include Richard Clarke, former counterterrorism czar for Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, and now counterterrorism advisor to ABC, the film's distorted version of history is inconsistent with the 9/11 Commission Report, upon which it claims to be based. [Think Progress, 9/5/06]

* film's writer is a noted conservative activist: The writer of The Path to 9/11 is an unabashed conservative named Cyrus Nowrasteh. Last year, Nowrasteh spoke on a panel titled "Rebels With a Cause: How Conservatives Can Lead Hollywood's Next Paradigm Shift." He has described Michael Moore as "an out of control socialist weasel," and conducted interviews with right-wing websites like FrontPageMag. [Think Progress, 9/1/06]

Slaughter wants disclaimers displayed throughout the film's broadcast to remind the viewing public that The Path to 9/11 is not a documentary.

Rep. Slaughter also expressed concern over the timing of the mini-series, as well as recent Republican rhetoric on the issue of national security and its connection to the war in Iraq.

"But what is far more important is the timing of this movie," Rep. Slaughter continued. "The anniversary of the attacks is an emotional time, and it is wrong for anyone to play on those emotions and use them to advance a political agenda."

I imagine that battle will go on ad infinitum.

In the meantime, you can use this page to contact ABC to ensure they a) stop advertising this docudrama by using the 9/11 Commission report as a prop; b) alert their viewers that this film is not entirely based on facts; and c) inform them you will boycott the advertisers if they don't.